


Carving Myself a Space

by Just_AnotherFangirl



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, Human AU, I can’t do drama this year so I’m writing a whole bunch of scenes with drama class, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, M/M, Multi, Not Beta Read, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Teen Crush, a smidgen of angst, accidental misgendering, and everyone tries to make a family, demiboy Janus Sanders, i promise virgil will show up, im also generally slowing down on stuff with this fandom, lesbians running a cafe, logan is in fucking love, logans moms are OCs that I adore, more fluff as Janus figures stuff out, pat and ro adopt janus, royality baby, same with remus, shwoopsie, so slow updates, teen Janus, they have a whole backstory planned, trans Janus Sanders
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:48:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26079001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_AnotherFangirl/pseuds/Just_AnotherFangirl
Summary: Janus was perfectly content to keep where  they were. Yes, it wasn’t a great place, but if they were placed with somebody, too much attention would go to them, to much pressure saying be a girl. Of course, the universe never gives you what you want, but it does give you what you need, sometimes.
Relationships: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders & Sleep | Remy Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Comments: 9
Kudos: 40





	1. Look! Foreshadowing

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I’ve been working on for quite a while but I’m losing inspiration, so updates might be slow. There’s a rough plan, but I’m open to anything you want to see.

Janus shoved through the door, glaring at the floor.

“Greetings! So this is Lydia?” Janus winced at the name, and glanced up to see a freckled face grinning at them. “I’m Roman Sanders.”

Janus glanced up at the man. “And?”

The smile started to slip. “I thought you would want to know my name? You are living with me and my husband.”

“Yeah, for like two weeks.” They scoffed. “I can promise you’ll be done with me soon. I give you about two weeks.”

“That won't happen,” Roman chuckled. “We’ve dealt with a lot of tough stuff, I’m sure we can handle anything you throw at us, but anyways, come upstairs! I can show you the house, you can get unpacked, get used to the house, you can go anywhere you want! Dinner’s not for about a half hour, but my husband will want to meet you when he gets home around then.!”

Janus rolled their eyes as they headed up the stairs after Roman. 

“I’ll show you around, starting with up here.” He gestured at a closed door. “Right there is what’ll be your room, and there's a bathroom on the right that should be exclusively you. Mine and Pattons room is right over there, with another bathroom. 

The man and teen went back downstairs, where Roman led them into the kitchen. “You can take any food whenever, just stay out of that cupboard.” He pointed to above the stove. “The living rooms right here, and we have a ton of video games to choose from. Basement isn't that interesting, just another tv and old boxes and stuff. Lots of old posters and things like that.”

Janus shrugged. “Sounds pretty cool.”

“Alright, I’ll help you unpack then?” 

There was no protest, so Roman followed as they went back upstairs. The blonde man sat on the bed, picking at his nails. “I just wanted to chat, if there's anything that's not in your file.” 

“Ok?”

“Alright then, what pronouns do you use?”

Janus settled, a bit more at ease, but they didn't blink.“They/them.”

Roman settled comfortably. “Alright. I would say I’m sorry about what happened to your parents, but judging by what I read, it’s not really wanted, at least for your dad?.”

“Yeah,” Janus shifted. “My dad was a piece of shit, and my mom didn't know how to handle things and take care of me.” They said bitterly.

“Oh, also, is there any other name you’d like us to use?”

“There's no  _ other _ name. There's just my name.”

“And what name is that?” Roman said softly.

“Janus.”

“Alright. We can call you Janus. Also, do you have any allergies, or triggers?” Janus didn’t respond, so Roman rushed on talking. “Triggers are-”

“I know what triggers are.” Their tone didn't change, but something told Roman that he wouldn't get any more answers.

Roman shuffled out, pushing back more questions that bubbled up in his throat.

Janus stared up at the ceiling, completely zoned out. They ran their fingers through their choppy hazel hair, trying to keep the years-old memory from resurfacing.

Scorched skin. 

They traced the burn mark that decorated the left side of their face.

Their mom on the floor, a shroud of smoke surrounding her.

A finger traced the cut that went just past the corner of their mouth, stopping at the edge of their neck. 

Stuckstuckstuckstuck- no. 

There wasn't time for this. Janus shoved the memories back, They had to protect themself. Sure, these new people seemed a bit better. They had asked for pronouns, asked about triggers. Soon enough they would get sick of the sad kid with the burn scars, sending them off to the next family.

“Did she get here, Ro?” A bubbly voice pierced through the thoughts. 

Janus peered over the railing, seeing a dark skinned man with short, tight curls talking to Roman. His husband, probably. 

“Yeah, they’re upstairs.”

As the shorter man went to go upstairs, Roman grabbed him by the arm. “Hold up, Pat. Their name is actually Janus, and they just told me they use they/them, and they seem pretty against this whole fostering stuff.”

Pat grinned. “Well, I’m sure I can get them more comfortable here!” He dashed up the stairs, and Janus jumped back to the room their stuff was in. 

They were staring back up at the ceiling when Pat walked in. 

“Hey, you’re Janus, right? I’m Patton, Roman’s husband. Sorry I wasn't here to meet you. So, what do you like to do, kiddo?” He cocked his head to the side, curiously awaiting an answer.

“I draw?” They muttered, gesturing at the sketchbook on the nightstand.

“Oh, cool! Can I see?”

Janus raised an eyebrow. They pulled out a loose, crumpled page and tossed it on the bed.

Patton smoothed it out and shock crossed his face. “Kiddo, you’re fantastic! Who taught you?” 

“Nobody.”

“I don't believe that! This is fantastic, such a pretty art style! Have you posted it anywhere?”

“No.”

“Have you ever thought about it?” Patton pushed, trying to get an answer from the fifteen year old. He flipped through the pages, looking at a medley of different art. “Is this one you?”

Janus tightened up, seeing which drawing he was looking at. “Uh, yeah.”

“Cool. Well, we should probably go down for dinner.”

  
  


“So, did you want to switch schools, or take the longer trip to your old school? It would probably be easier to switch, but we’re willing to drive you. I do teach at the school here, so you might want to go to your old school still, it could be a little awkward.” Roman asked as they all sat down.

Janus shuddered, imagining the long drive alone with one of them. When it was their parents, or even some of those families they’d stayed with, car rides longer than ten minutes would be pure torture. No reason to think that would change. “No, I’ll just switch. Not like you’re my dad or anything.” They poked around the food on their plate,

Romans shoulders slumped, but he consoled himself quickly. It had only been a few hours, he couldn't expect Janus to think like that. They would come around , could be part of the little family.

Patton grinned. “We can introduce you to Logan, and Remy, they’ll be willing to show you around!”

“Cool.” 

“We do need rules still, Pat.” Roman said goodnaturedly.”We’re pretty lax on that, though, Basically, text us where you head after school, don't get arrested, and either be home in time for dinner, or ask if you plan to go have dinner with friends or stuff like that.”

Janus winced. “I don’t actually have a phone.”

“Oh, we’ll have to fix that. After dinner we can find my old phone to use as a placeholder till we can get you a newer model, and that way we can put the old sim card to use!” Patton exclaimed.

After dinner, and a decent bit of confusion on clearing the phone of photos and things, Janus was handed a blank phone.

“You should set some of your art as a background! That would look pretty cool.”

The teen retreated, playing around with the phone. On the app store, they noticed a free drawing app, and pulling out a touchscreen pen, started to colour some of their pencil art, which they had never done before. Good markers and pens were too expensive for them, so they had always stuck to pencil art.

  
  



	2. The wonderful world if gay friendships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun friendly bonding hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some accidental misgendering at the moment, and another little flashback, but overall a fluffy chapter of teens vibing together, and a gay cafe

Janus hiked their bag up their shoulder, lingering in the corner of the hallway. Their mismatched eyes scanned the students, watching friends laugh, couples holding hands, and the cool glances some shared.

“You're Lydia, correct?” A boy with square glasses and a spiked jacket tapped them on the shoulder. 

“No.”

“I was told that you were the Sanders foster kid, I was supposed to show her around?” 

“That’s me.”

The boy frowned. “But you said that you weren’t Lydia?”

“Yeah, that’s not my fucking name.” Janus spat.

“So I assume you don’t use she/her, then, as well? I’m so sorry about the mistake in names. There must have been some miscommunication, my mom probably cut off Patton and Roman before they could explain further. Here, allow me to introduce myself again.” He took a ew steps back and adjusted his glasses, then walked back up extending a hand. “My name is Logan Picani, I am supposed to show you around. Your name is?”

Janus raised an eyebrow, but took the outstretched hand. “Janus, and they/them.”

“Wonderful. We share a first class, so you can come with me.” Logan cracked a smile before heading into a nearby classroom, Janus awkwardly trailing behind.

The first few classes were torture, correcting people on their name and pronouns every three seconds. 

Lunch was a little more bearable, but not helped by the vaguely familiar small ball of sunglasses and caffeine. 

“Lo, who did you kidnap?” He was draped over a table outside, arms crossed. 

“Janus, this is the most insufferable idiot ever to walk the earth, also known as Remy. Remy, this is Janus.” Logan sat down, pleased with his introduction.”

“Sup, babes. I think you’re in my english class.” He took a loud slurp from his cup and shuddered. “Ugh. The school coffee sucks, wanna head over to LGBTea?”

Logan hopped up wearily.

“Help me up?”

He pulled Remy off the table, and they started to walk out, pulling Janus behind them. 

“You’ll love it, Logan’s moms run it so we get discounts.” Remy was chattering on to an amused Janus about the cafe. “On holidays and shit, they do latte art stuff for extra cost, Natalie is teaching me to do it. She’s teaching me to make some of the fancier drinks, too.”

“Remy would be better off as their child. Coffee is coffee, I’ve never had the pull to a more sophisticated drink.” Logan confessed as Remy rambled on.

The group headed into a busy cafe, full of teenagers and people on their lunch break.

“Mom! Remy and Janus and I are headed to the back.” Logan went straight up to the counter, where a short, dark haired woman was working. 

“Oh, who’s this?” she asked, smiling at the three teens.

“Janus is Roman and Pattons foster? I assume Mama cut them off before they could explain further.”

“Yeah, head into the back.” She waved vaguely toward a door. “I’ll pop back in a second, I want to meet Janus.” 

Logan pushed into the back, Janus and Remy close behind. 

“Oh, and tell your mama to come up front!” She shouted at their backs.

The teens settled onto crates, and a taller, dark skinned woman turned around hearing them. 

“Lo, Remy. Do you want another lesson before you head back to school?” 

“Nah, we’re busy showing Janus around.” Remy said lazily.

She frowned. “Janus?”

They waved awkwardly. “Me.”

“Roman and Pattons foster kid? You cut them off before they could explain further, so I heard about them by a different name.” Logan explained, tactfully refraining from using the other name.

Her eyes widened. “Oh! I’m so sorry!” she rushed forwards. “I’m so sorry about that, I never meant-”

“It’s cool.” Janus fiddled with their hair.

The woman relaxed slightly. “I’m Natalie. You probably met my wife Ada out front. You tell Roman and Patton I’ve invited all of you for dinner next week.”

“Mom wants you up front.” Logan interrupted. She darted out, and Logan settled. “So, what electives are you taking?”

Remy sighed. “Logan, you fucking nerd. I need to teach you how to speak to humans.” He turned to face Janus again. “So, what are your electives?”

“And you called him a nerd?” Janus laughed.

Remy held his hands up in defence. “Look, it’s very important. If you take the right ones, you’ll end up with a free period. I took typing, and Mr. Vance is asleep two minutes after the class starts. You get to fool around on the computers, I usually play coolmathgames. And as a special little bonus, it smells great, like all kinds of good food, cause that's where the vapers congregate after school.”

Logan coughed. “You’re supposed to take electives that teach you things.”

Janus interrupted before it could become a full-blown fight. They’d seen how bad it could get after witnessing some of their parents fights. “I took drama and foods.”

Remy groaned. “Who wants foods? Switch to sewing with me, it's way more fun. I’m gonna do my jeans this year and add cool designs.”

Janus thought back to several years before, when a simple mistake had left a burn mark on their face, and one issue gone from their life. 

\---

_ “Lydia, get out of the way!” A woman yelled in frustration. A small tawny-headed girl darted around the small kitchen, generally in the way. “I’m trying to cook!” She grabbed the girl's shoulder. “Just, go to your room or something.”  _

_ The girl ducked under her moms legs, bumping her over, and knocking a pot of water onto the lit stove.  _

_ Flames flared up, catching onto the roof too quickly to be stopped. _

_ \--- _

“I could switch… sewing sounds more useful.”

Logan popped up, hit with a realization. “Wait, you took drama? Your dad- foster parent-, Roman, he teaches that. He runs the drama department, and you want to take his classes?”

Janus shrugged. “It’s not like he’s my actual dad? I just live with him and his husband.”

“Fair.”

Remy smirked. “Mr. Cool and calculated here could never handle it like that. Aunt Ada showed up once for some career fair thing, and Lo could barely get his ass in the cafeteria! He was more awkward than Patrick Stump in the Dance Dance music video!”

Logan and Janus both stared confusedly, and Remy shrugged. “I have an online friend who’s been slowly infecting me. Don't worry, I’m still a refined goth.”

There were a few more minutes of laughing before the group realized their lunch was almost over. As they left the slowly-emptying cafe, Logan snatched a crofters thumbprint cookie from the display case and left a little faster. 

“We don’t have any afternoon classes together, but we’ll see you next week, and hopefully after school.” Remy shot them finger guns, backing off towards the computer lab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the horror of actual school scenes.  
> If you read and enjoy this, please comment! I love this story and I’m really just doing it for me, but it’s hard to keep up motivation to write when serotonin machine broke


	3. Stereotypical school scenes and Remy rambling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Idk how to title stuff so chapter filters are gonna be just stupid little descriptions.  
> But anyways, I’m mad I can’t do drama this year so I may very well put too many scenes featuring it in!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk how to title stuff so chapter filters are gonna be just stupid little descriptions.  
> But anyways, I’m mad I can’t do drama this year so I may very well put too many scenes featuring it in!

The dim lighting made it hard to see in the auditorium. Janus squinted, brushing their bangs from their face.

All of a sudden, the lights flicked on, and Roman was in front of the class. 

“Greetings!” He flung his arms out. “You’re the tenth graders, correct?” He asked. After a few nods, he kept talking. “I recognize most of you from last year, but I’ll introduce myself for everybody's benefit. I’m Mr. Sanders, and this is drama 10. If none of that sounds familiar, scoot off to the proper class. Now, I know everybody hates it, but it’s the start of the year, a new class, so everybody think of something about themselves while I go over my rules.”

Everybody groaned but Roman- no, Janus had to call him Mr. Sanders in school.

“Alright, it's simple. We’ll be doing a variety of things, so no complaining about what we do in class, it slows things down. If there's any racism or homophobia or transphobia or anything of the sort, you leave this class, plain and simple. And finally, no bullying, but you should all be old enough to know that. Now!” Ro- Mr. Sanders clapped his hands together. “Name, pronouns, and a fun fact! Who wants to go first?” 

Someone with long hazel hair hanging loose around their shoulders stood up. “I’m Hailey,I’m bigender so you can just switch between he/him and she/her, , and I was born missing a finger?” He waved a four fingered hand in the air as she sat down.

“Thanks Hailey, who wants to go next?”

Janus waited till around six people had gone, mentally storing away names to avoid embarrassing themself.

“Thank you Dean, who else?”

They stood up, waving a hand lazily. “I’m Janus, they/them, and uh, this-” They pointed at the burn covering the side of their face. “Don't bother asking, I won't tell you.”

The introductions continued, filling most of the class time.

“I’m Reed, he/him, and I once met Gerard Way. A singer.” The final student clarified.

“Thanks Reed, and oop, we’re almost out of time. Tomorrow we’ll officially start stuff, and for now, you can just talk or go on your phones till the end of class.” Roman grinned as he headed into his office.

\---

After dinner, as Janus went to go upstairs, Patton stopped them. “Hey, kiddo, wanna stay down here with us? We have a tradition of roasting marshmallows on the first night after school starts in September, if you want to join?”

Janus tugged at the corner of their yellow sweater. “I guess?” Might as well keep the Sanders happy, right? That would keep them there for longer, and that was the only reason they were staying. The only reason. They ignored Patton's intoxicating smile, trying to hide the grin that slid across their face.

“Great! It’ll be about fifteen minutes, so you can grab a sweater if you want, it gets chilly out there.”

Flames illuminated their faces as the two men and the teen roasted marshmallows. The sun had set, and a chill wind nipped at Janus’ bare arms. 

They leaned forward, warming their arms. The fire flickered, reflected in Roman and Patton’s eyes. 

Fire. Their hands shook, dropping slightly. Their finger slipped into a flame for a split second, but Janus pulled away quickly.

“Ow!” 

“Did you burn yourself?” Patton leaned over to see. “You should go run that under cold water.”

Janus stared down at the small mark on the finger. “Um, I think I’ll go upstairs now,” They said, already going. 

Janus collapsed onto the bed, fire in the back of their mind.

Fire.

Burning them.

They burned it. 

Their breathing became ragged, short quick breaths, and they tugged at their shoulder length hair. 

All they could hear was their racing heartbeat. 

Fire.

When Janus got downstairs the next morning, they shrugged off the concerned looks, but was stopped at the door by Patton.

“We were wondering if you wanted to go to the mall to get some new clothes-

-And since you probably don't want to go with us, we were thinking you could go with Remy and Logan, Ada told us you were friends with the two of them.”

“So if they're free, we can drop you all off, and you can just use our credit card, or we can give you a prepaid card, so if you don't use everything on it you still have some money.”

“Alright?”

The couple tripped over each other's words and feet as they shouted after the teenager while heading to their cars. Before getting in, they exchanged a smile. Janus was finally softening down and letting them in, slowly and carefully, but still letting.

  
  


A brisk wind nipped at Janus’ shoulders, and they pulled their coat in tighter as Remy rambled on. 

“You know, my hair is light enough, it would totally work.” Logan tried to speak up, but was shushed. “You can’t speak, cause you have that blue streak. And it’s not like I’d be bleaching it, I’m already a pretty light brown.”

Logan sighed. “Remy, your hair is far too dark to dye, you would need to bleach it. There's no way uncle Emile would let you do that.”

“Ugh!” Remy flopped onto the grass. “Why can’t I just be born with pink hair, it would make stuff way easier.”

“I mean that would make you an anime protagonist,” Janus piped up. “And then me or Logan would be tragically killed so you can have a new character arc or whatever.”

“..Fair.”

Janus leaned over towards the other two. “You guys are willing to come to the mall with me, right? I’ve been told I need to go shopping, and Remy actually knows how to dress.”

“Barely.” Logan criticized.

“Hey! Meanies. But, because you have such a kind

“Gays, we should probably head inside. The bells are about to ring and we’re a ten minute walk away from school.”

Janus grinned. “But a ten minute walk-”

“Is a two minute sprint. Get your nineties exercise video on, Logan! High knees!” Remy shouted as the trio ran towards the high school. “See you tonight! We’re having dinner together!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m honestly not too happy with this chapter but I want to give you something, since I’ve started NaNoWriMo and don’t have the energy to work on two different wips. Updates are gonna come a bit slower now because of that, sorry!  
> Comments are greatly appreciated they give me serotonin


	4. The horrifying ordeal of being known

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I’m sorry I left this for so long, I’m trying to keep it updating but I’m fading out of this fandom. I promise I’ll end this decently, but updates will be a bit slow and it definitely won’t be as long as I’d hoped. This is more of my side project now.

Before the terrifying idea of dinner, they had to get through shopping.

“So, what kind of clothes do you like?” Roman asked as Janus came awkwardly into his car. 

“Uh, sweaters and jeans? Tight stuff but like, layered. And yellow.”

“Cool! So, before we get clothes, I wanted to ask if there was a.. Another thing.”

Janus shrunk in, cautious. 

“I know it's super awkward to ask but would you want a binder? I’ve seen how you sit and the tops you wear and it's pretty much the same as me if you go back fifteen years.”

“You’re trans?”

“Yeah, did you never notice the flags in my pencil bin at the front of class? I have a rainbow and the trans flag.”Roman frowned. “Wait, don’t distract me! Do you want one or not?”

The tawny-headed teen shifted in their seat. “They’re too expensive, I can’t let anyone waste money on something I don’t need.”

“Bud, if it's something that can help your body image or help stop dysphoria, it can't be too expensive. If it makes you feel better, we could get a cheaper one?”

Janus glanced down. “I’d like that.”

“Then let's go shopping!”

\---

After that surprisingly not so bad trip, it was time to face the demon of dinner. They headed into Logan's house, and were greeted by an unfamiliar grinning face.    
“You must be Janus!” The man held out a hand. “I’m Remy’s dad and Ada’s brother, Emile.” 

Janus awkwardly shook the man's hand as he continued to speak. 

“The boys are upstairs, you know where Logan's room is, right?”

“Yeah.” Janus darted up the stairs, and heard a snippet of conversation between the adults.

“They're pretty quiet.”

“Yeah, it seems like they're trying not to get attached. Janus still thinks we'll send them off. Snarky, though.” Romans voice faded out.

Janus headed into Logan's room, and was greeted with a massive mess. Aside from a corner with a desk, it was littered with books and paper and clothes. 

Logan shot up from his bed. “Janus!”

“Wasn't expecting you to have such a messy room.” They picked at the skin of their arm. 

“Well, I'm too busy to keep it clean. I get distracted when I try to do a full-scale cleaning, and waste valuable time.”

Remy lifted his head off a beanbag chair. “Well, I think it's disgusting.”

“At least I dont have paper cups and old mugs everywhere.” Logan sniped back.

“Oh, fuck off. C’mere Janus, I wanna braid your hair.”Janus plopped down in front of Remy.

“There! It looks great, let me see the front.” Janus stood up next to Logan. Remy leaned back, looking at his newest work of art. “You two are smexy.”

“You two might be, I’m a snake.” Janus flopped back onto the ground. “I’m scaly, not smexy.”

“You think I’m ‘smexy’?” Logan sat down next to them.

Janus blushed. Before they could formulate a response, (Which was a good minute.) Ada called up the stairs. 

“Kids! Dinner!”

It turned out to be a relatively quiet dinner, not at all what Janus was fearing. That is, until Natalie piped up with a question.

“You know, the school is doing that ‘take your kid to work day’ thing again next week. Ro, Pat, who's taking Janus?”

The three froze like deer in headlights, relaxing slightly when Emile butted in. 

“Oh, Natalie, you were planning to take Remy, right? I can't take him with me, confidentiality and the like.”

“Yeah, and he's far more interesting in coffee.” She took a sip of water. “Logan would be the one wanting to go with you if he could. So, Roman, Patton?” She turned to face the two men.

“Oh, we had no idea it was happening, and it depends on if Janus wants to.” They turned towards Janus. “Did you want to come with one of us? It couldn't actually be Roman, cause he's a teacher and there's some muck about that because he's one of your teachers, but me?” Patton asked hopefully.

Janus shrugged. “I mean, it gets me a day off school? I’m not against it.” 

“Wonderful!” Patton clapped his hands, a trait he must have picked up from Roman. Or the other way around. Janus wasn't sure, both did it constantly for the smallest things.

The conversation quickly moved on. “So Remy, Logan told us you’ve been talking about a boy?” 

“LO!” Remy screeched as Logan smirked. 

“You've been going on and on about him, I had to let my frustrations out somewhere.” 

“Oh, that one with the bangs that  _ just _ fall in front of his eyes perfectly?” Janus added.

“Now,” Emile chided. “Don't go teasing Remy in front of us, that's far too embarrassing.”

“Thank you, dad!” Remy shouted. “Now Lo, Jan, shut up.”

\---

The week passed too fast for Janus’ liking, and before they knew it, they were in Patton's car, driving off to some place.

“Where do you even work?”

“Oh, you’ll find out when we get there!” Patton laughed. “Oh, you don't have any allergies, right?”

“Nope.” 

Soon, Janus found themself staring up at a vets clinic. “Somehow, I’m not surprised.” They muttered, arms crossed.

“Come on in!” Patton squealed. “Alicia, this is Janus! They get to follow me around, their school is doing a ‘take your kid to work day’ thing!”

The lady at the counter, Alica, Patton had called her, frowned. “You have a teenage daughter?”

“Not daughter.” Janus corrected. “Child, and he’s just fostering me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Alicia waved at the back. “Well you two head on in, I’m sure Pat is eager to show you all the animals.”

“So you get to spend all your time here?” Janus glanced around at the rooms and cages. “Pretty sweet.”

Patton bounced on his heels. “Let me show you around! So, we try to keep the animals more separate, and over here is most peoples favourite spot, the dogs! The cats are over there-” He waved a hand across the way. “And there's a few more over there. You can just look around, check things out, but try to stay out of the ay, and ask if you want to take any-”

“Are those snakes?” Janus drifted over to glass terrariums, where a few snakes were. 

“Yup! Patton said proudly. “We don't have a lot of exotic pets, but we do have a couple snakes. Most are just here for a while, complications or whatnot with the owner or the pet itself.”

Janus leaned down, looking at one snake, a dark yellow with orange patches.

“What kind of snake is this one?”

Patton leaned over their shoulder, reading off the small label. “A corn snake. I don't know much about snakes, never been my area of expertise, but this one we call Via, she's about four years old. Her owner couldn't afford to keep her, so now we have her.” He took a step back. “You can pick her up, if you want.” He offered. 

Janus’ head perked up. “What do I do?”

“Alright, so first, wash your hands with this.” Patton handed them a bottle. Janus took a sniff and recoiled, smelling vinegar.

They wrinkled their nose. “With vinegar?” 

“Yup! If there's smells on your hands she’ll think it's food.”

Janus begrudgingly used the vinegar water. Patton handed them a paper towel. 

“Run it along her back, to check if she's awake.” 

The snake stirred, briefly flicking her tongue. Janus reached down, and she slithered up their arm, wrapping around their neck. Their eyes lit up, and a bubbling laugh escaped their lips.

Patton took a step back, watching the teen laugh. He hadn't seen a grin like that on Janus since.. ever, really. Janus had been quiet, not sullen, but cold. Now, they just erupted with smiles and giggles, ecstatic as the snake slithered along, wrapping around their arm. For the first time, Patton felt truly parental, though he knew Janus didn't see it like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t deserve comments after my hiatus but if you’d like to, I’d love it. I did a lot of research on snakes for this


	5. Many things happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi I’m so sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all I have written, it might update again, might not, I’m not sure. Tbh, I’m not really involved with the fandom anymore, and it’s hard to keep myself interested in the story. I might post a bulletpoint ending eventually, to give an ending, but I’m so sorry I’m giving up on this.   
> It’s brain vomit, I never planned this story properly, so I can’t even force myself to write because I don’t have a plan to follow, and I don’t want to spend creative energy on something I’m not interested in.

“Don't tell me you've never had cotton candy.” Janus reeled back in dramatized shock.

“It never caught my eye,” Logan shrugged. “All fluffy and messy. I’m more of a sour candy person for sweet stuff.”

Janus shook their head, starting the sentence with a dramatic sigh. “Logan, we need to get you some cotton candy.”

“Well, the store down by-”

“Nope.” 

Logan wrinkled his nose at the finger on his mouth. 

“You need the full experience. To be fair, I’ve had it once and it wasn’t real cotton candy, it was from a bin, but it was good-”

The brunette flopped Janus onto their back, but the lighter haired teen pulled him along. The two ended up flopped on the carpet, faces only inches apart. 

Janus panicked, sliding away. Logan reacted similarly, looking at his watch, which he didn't actually happen to be wearing at the moment. 

“I should go, it's nearly dinner.” he darted out of the room, leaving Janus on the floor, trying to calm their pounding heart. 

It was Logan, they were friends, it was goofing around. So why did they feel like that? Just a flurry of pounding hearts and odd new emotions. Logan would see them at school the next day and it would all be normal. No need to think about this maybe crush. Anyways, it's not like Logan liked them in that way. 

Logan ran through the living room, not stopping to respond to romans questions. His hands were held down, covering a conspicuous area, and it wasn't until he was a few blocks away that Logan stopped to calm himself down. He had almost kissed Janus, or had at least wanted to. Shit. 

Logan took a deep breathing, stilling his pounding heart. Smoothing out his clothes, he headed home. 

“How was your day?” Natalie leaned over the counter, brushing her hands off. 

“Fine, gotta go.” Logan muttered, shoving past to get to the stairs. He sprinted into his room, where he remained, thoughts occupied by one thing.

Logan headed into school the next day, and he had calmed down considerably.

“Lo!” Remy flopped an arm over his shoulder. “You’re not busy after school, right?” Before Logan could respond, he kept talking. “Great, cause Jan needs us to come over. Their binder arrives today, and we need to see it.” 

“You’ll come?” Janus emerged from the busy hallway. 

Inexplicably, Logan blushed. Fuck. Just remember, be the robot. “Of course. I would ever miss such a thrilling moment for you.” 

Remy frowned. Logan had slipped into his stiff, formal self. Something was up. 

“Well, I need to get to my class. Salutations.”

Okay, something was  _ very  _ up. As Remy was watching Logan, his eyes caught on an extremely cute guy with lavender hair, and his mind drifted away.

…

  
  


The three clustered in Janus’ room, Remy and LOgan watching the other stare at the package. 

“Are you going to put it on?” Logan moved the package closer. 

“Yeah, I’m just.. It’s stupid, but I’m kinda scared. But still excited?” Janus shooed their friends out so they could change before they regretted it. 

“You can come in now!” They shouted, eyes screwed up. 

“Oh, you look so good, babes!” Remy grinned. “Are you gonna open your eyes?”

“Oh. Right.” They cautiously looked in the mirror and grinned. “It looks so.. flat!” They glanced back at the punk-ish teen. “Lo?”

Logan squeaked. “It looks.. really good. Really, really, good.”

Janus blushed, ducking their head. They’re leg was shaking as they sat down, vibrating with excitement. 

“We should do something stupid and fun to celebrate this. Remy suggested. You should come to my house for a sleepover tonight, Janus, you haven’t seen it yet.”

“I’ve never had a sleepover.”

“Trust me, it’s tons of fun. I’m sure Patton and Roman won’t mind. Logan, are you in?”

Logan held up a finger. “Wait, I’ve gotta see what my moms think, but considering it's only you, they should be alright with it.” 

“Cool. Janus, go ask?” 

“Alright.” The teen shuffled down the stairs normally, but straightened their posture before approaching the two adults. “Um, Roman, Patton?”

“Yeah, kiddo?” Patton turned around, then squealed. “Oh, you look so good!”

“You look positively stunning!” Roman proclaimed. “So, what is it? Did you just want to show us?”

Janus toyed with the sleeve of the sweater they had slipped on. It was older, and a little too small, so they usually avoided wearing it. Now though, with a wonderfully flat chest, it was merely a soft sweater that didn’t bother them a bit. “Remy wanted me to sleep over at his house tonight.”

“Oh, a sleepover to celebrate you getting a binder! That’s a fantastic idea!” 

“When I got my first binder, my twin brother wanted to celebrate like that, too. We lived together, so we couldn’t do a sleepover, but we snuck out and got ice cream. I didn’t come out till I was seventeen, and I was fourteen then, so we had to do it all in secret.” Roman smiled at the memory. “Anyways, of course you can go sleep over, Janus. Do you need any snacks or anything?” He asked. 

“I’m not sure, I’ll ask Remy.”

They trooped back up the stairs, still unable to tear their eyes away from their chest. 

“You can come?” Remy whipped his head around. 

Janus nodded, a smile bubbling up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again. I promise I’ll try to write more for this, but still, no promises

**Author's Note:**

> Comments would be heavenly I’m dying for validation


End file.
